Both parties covet 'new evangelicals'

Campaign 2008

Both are Christian publishers, members of the GOP and opponents of same-sex marriage and abortion.

But one of them is giving the invocation at the Democratic National Convention.

"I'm a registered Republican, and they know that," said Cameron Strang, the 32-year-old founder of Relevant, a magazine covering faith, life and culture for young Christians. "That's how much things have changed."

The younger Strang is part of a voting bloc coveted by Democrat Barack Obama: so-called "new evangelicals" or "progressive Christians."

It's a group less tied to party politics, less interested in partisan battles and more willing to compromise than an older generation of believers seasoned by the culture wars of the past 25 years.

They profess deep faith and a profound concern about issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, but they are also troubled by AIDS in Africa, environmental destruction and war in Iraq. The upshot? They are targets of opportunity for Obama and other Democrats looking to make inroads among religious conservatives.

"If you're a fair-minded Christian, you've got to consider those issues," said Cameron Strang, whose magazine and Web site reach more than 500,000 people monthly. "That's why people are looking at Obama."

Not people such as his father.

Steve Strang and a cohort of older white evangelicals say they could never vote for any politician who supports Roe v. Wade. These are the Christian conservatives whom Republicans have courted for years -- the bloc that gave George W. Bush 80 percent of their vote in 2004, and the bloc John McCain can't afford to lose.

In part, this group has been attracted by Republican principles of low taxes and less government. But for many, their support hinged on the issues of abortion and, more recently, same-sex marriage.

'A direction we don't like'

It was abortion that pushed Steve Strang, 57, out of the Democratic Party. Since his political conversion, he has emerged as one of the country's most important Christian magazine and book publishers. Headquartered in Lake Mary, Strang Communications now produces seven magazines and regularly sees its books hit national best-seller lists. Three years ago, Strang was named one of Time magazine's most influential evangelicals.

Among his friends, he said, some issues can't be compromised.

"The culture is going in a direction we don't like," said Strang, a McCain supporter who initially backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister.

Strang, who, like his son, is nondenominational, concedes that some young churchgoers may find his stance inflexible. But he dismisses the idea that there's anything new going on. There have always been "left-of-center evangelicals," he said, especially among 20-somethings.

"Most of it, I think, is a figment of the media," he said.

The Rev. Joel Hunter doesn't see it that way.

Hunter is pastor at Longwood's Northland, A Church Distributed and one of the leading figures in the Christian progressive movement.

Hunter, author of A New Kind of Conservative, said young evangelicals evaluate candidates across a wide range of questions and are comfortable with shades of gray.

Many, for example, have expanded the idea of what it means to be "pro-life," speaking out against torture, the Iraq war and diseases that kill thousands in developing countries. Cameron Strang, whose company is based near downtown Orlando, said Obama has scored points with his peers by addressing those issues and talking openly about his faith.

"You can see the shift happening," he said, joking that some young Christians who voted for Bush "now have Obama posters on their wall."

McCain has struggled to energize young evangelicals, in part because he's no longer seen as an outsider looking to shake things up. The Arizona senator also seems uncomfortable discussing his faith, something even Steve Strang has pointed out -- though he said this week that McCain's efforts to engage religious voters have improved.

Both candidates' outreach efforts will be crucial.

A new poll by The Barna Group, a Christian research and public-opinion company, shows that among self-identified evangelical voters, McCain leads Obama 39 percent to 37 percent, with 23 percent undecided. In 2004, exit polls showed John Kerry received only 21 percent of the white evangelical vote; in 2000, Al Gore got 30 percent.

Cameron Strang sounds like an Obama fan, but he insists he's still weighing his political options. So he'll go to Denver -- a Republican afloat in a sea of Democrats -- give his invocation, which he has not yet written, and listen to the candidate.

Whatever he decides, he said, will be driven by his faith -- just like his father.